"Tunnel Of Love" by Dire Straits: First Guitar Solo

Let’s check out the first guitar solo from Tunnel Of Love by Dire Straits. We’ll look at how to play it, and dive into the genius of Mark Knopfler’s playing.

When you learn other people’s solos, it’s crucial you digest them. Mark Knopfler uses chord tones amazingly well, and if you understand these details, you’ll be better placed to use his licks and ideas in your own guitar playing.

If you want a quick playthrough of the entire solo, head to 1:06 in the video lesson. You’ll find the exact fingerings and counts in the video. :)

Let's go.

Tunnel Of Love by Dire Straits: Phrase 1

This phrase lands on an F chord. There’s some Hendrix ideas in there, and Mark outlines an F6 to F9 change. He also plays in multiple shapes of the CAGED position - you can see it in the lines and double stops.

🎸 Explore: You can explore this one loads - put on an F chord loop and experiment with it. :)

Phrase 2

This one lands on a Dm chord. To play this right, you’ll need to roll finger 1 on to string 2.

He finishes the last riff with vibrato on the note D on string 3, landing on it exactly when the chords change! This is typical of Mark’s playing - you can almost hear the chords in his solo.

🔥 Chord Tones: This phrase is all from the D Minor Pentatonic scale, and you can see the E-shape Dm chord underneath it. Awesome stuff. Don’t just learn it and move on - nick it!

Tunnel Of Love by Dire Straits: Phrase 3

This is a classic Mark Knopfler lick! To mimic him, be specific with the fingers you use to pick the strings.

In this one, he’s outlining the B♭ chord, which lasts for two beats. He even starts the lick on the note B♭ when the chords change, and you can see the C barre shape underneath his phrase.

When he finishes with vibrato on G, he does it exactly when the chords change to C. Note that the C Major chord is made up of C E G. Incredible playing! :)

Guitar Solo Phrase 4

You start this phrase by playing two strings at once, bending one.

Interestingly, he plays the note B♭ over the C chord, meaning we hear it as a Dominant 7th sound. This is clever because C7 is the V chord in the key of F. ;)

And he unbends the string when the chords change to B♭, landing on chord tones again.

Phrase 5

This one is a classic rock-and-roll phrase. We bend two strings at once - string 3 goes up a tone, and string 2 goes up a semitone. I prefer to use fingers 3 and 4 here. It’s possible with finger 3 only, but I feel I have less control.

🎶 Beyond Chord Tones: He starts on two unusual notes - the 9th and the #11 - which give the riff a dissonant, jazzy flavour.

Surprise, surprise - he bends up to two notes in the B♭ Major chord, then finishes on chord tones from the following chord, Dm.

Tunnel Of Love by Dire Straits: Phrase 6

This is a classic Mark Knopfler guitar riff. He does two double stops - one from an F and the other from a C - in line with the chord changes. Then he plays another of his favorite phrases! This is straight from the D Minor Pentatonic Scale, and works great whenever you have a Dm.

Guitar Solo Phrase 7

He starts this one with a classic Hendrix–Mayfield idea in B♭, then in C, before running down the D Minor Pentatonic to finish on the note D.

Tunnel Of Love by Dire Straits: Key Takeaways

This is an awesome solo to learn. There are great rhythms and string bending, and you practice using your fingers to play a guitar solo - thumb mostly plays on the beat, and fingers 1 and 2 play the other notes.

Start by learning the Tunnel Of Love solo at a slow speed while you master the rhythm. Slow down the original Dire Straits recording using Transcribe! or other software, then try to stay in time with Mark and pick up his phrasing. Then you can slowly speed up.

💙 Dig this Dire Straits lead playing? Check out the incredible Tunnel Of Love outro guitar solo.